The installation of rivets and other types of high-strength fasteners in large structures, such as aircraft fuselage structural pieces and the like, is typically performed manually by two workers working in conjunction with each other on either side of a workpiece. A rivet is placed through a hole in the workpiece, which typically has a diameter slightly greater than the diameter of the rivet. Then, one worker operates a hammering tool that strikes the rivet head, while a second worker stands on the opposite side of the workpiece and pushes a bucking bar against the tail end of the rivet in the opposite direction. When the hammering tool strikes the head of the rivet, it provides a series of high impulse forces that cause the rivet tail to spread apart against the bucking bar, which acts similar to an anvil. The result is the formation of a tail end that tightly lodges the rivet within the workpieces, thus providing a high-strength bond between workpieces.
This manual installation process presents a twofold problem. First, it is difficult to maintain bucking bar normality with respect to the rivet axis to ensure that the rivet tail is properly formed. A misshapen tail end is costly to rework. Second, the hammering process is ergonomically difficult to the worker handling the bucking bar, as the worker's body is forced to absorb the vibrations caused by the hammering.
Present solutions to these problems typically eliminate workers in the process by involving computer controlled, automated riveting systems such as C-frame riveting machines or robotic systems with multi-function end effectors conducting a dual synchronous riveting process. However, these systems are costly, difficult to implement, and sometimes are not large enough to handle outsized workpieces such as airplane fuselage panels. As such, there still exists a need for manual placement of rivets using workers, and thus an alternative approach to the manual riveting process is needed; one that allows for accurate bucking bar placement that is not ergonomically difficult for the worker.